The 11 Least 'Livable' Cities In The World

Elena Holodny

Wednesday

Aug 20, 2014 at 4:26 PM

The Economist Intelligence Unit conducted a livability survey to determine which cities around the world "provide the best or worst living conditions."

Cities with major conflicts tended to score the lowest. Military and political conflicts weigh heavily on livability because they adversely affect many other factors as well: infrastructure is destroyed; hospitals are supersaturated with the wounded and dead; and economic productivity drops.

The survey notes that it is "designed to address a range of cities or business centers that people might want to live in or visit," and consequently, it excluded hotspots like Kabul, Afghanistan, and Baghdad.

10. Dakar

Country: Senegal

EIU Rank: 130

The EIU report gave the capital of Senegal low scores for healthcare (41.7) and infrastructure (37.5).

According to an operations officer at the World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation, "about 65 percent of people [in Senegal] do not have any healthcare coverage whatsoever." The IFC is working to help provide low-cost health insurance to students and informal sector employees in Senegal.

Dakar recently lifted a ban on solar power, which has led to lowered longterm energy costs for some people.

9. Abidjan

Country: Cote d'Ivoire

EIU Rank: 131

Abidjan, one of the largest French-speaking cities in the world, scored low on stability (30). The Ivory Coast routinely scores low on the Corruption Index, and this year it was ranked 136th with a score of 27.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) economists said Abidjan was one of the "Next 10" biggest cities in sub-Saharan Africa that investors should keep their eye on.

8. Tripoli

Country: Libya

EIU Rank: 132

Tripoli, Libya's capital and largest city, was a focal point throughout the Libyan Civil War in 2011.

In May 2014, general Khalifa Haftar launched a military assault against Islamist groups in Benghazi. Since then, Tripoli has once again been the site of turmoil, including an unverified "bombing" on Monday by an unidentified plane.

In the past year, food prices have skyrocketed in Cameroon — some by as much as 20%, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. In 2008, rising food and fuel prices led to riots and looting in Douala and Yaoundé, another city in Cameroon.

However, the University of Douala has just opened a medical school with "14 lecture halls ... eight laboratories for practical works ... two research laboratories."

6. Harare

Country: Zimbabwe

EIU Rank: 134

Zimbabwe's economy "is in a deep crisis, where poverty and unemployment are endemic and political strife and repression commonplace," according to the BBC. This continued economic crisis is adversely affecting the government's ability to fund public health.

Harare scored the lowest in healthcare (20.8). However, it scored relatively high in education (66.7) and culture and environment (58.6).

5. Algiers

Country: Algeria

EIU Rank: 135

Algiers scored low for infrastructure (30.4) and stability (40). In Algeria overall, "dated infrastructure, a complicated bureaucracy, and a discouraging mentality are holding back enterprise," according entrepreneurs and economists living there.

Algiers has one of the highest costs of living among North African cities. In 2011 and 2012, one metro and one light-rail system were operationalized in the city, with additional light-rail systems in the works.

4. Karachi

Country: Pakistan

EIU Rank: 136

Karachi scored low on stability (20) but relatively high on education (66.7) and infrastructure (51.8).

For the past two years, the Taliban have been expanding in Karachi and have recently have started killing police officers and attacking "poorly defended" police stations. Attacks by the Taliban killed 34 at an airport in Karachi in June.

3. Lagos

Country: Nigeria

EIU Rank: 137

Lagos scored low for stability (23) as well as for healthcare and education (both 33.3).

Boko Haram — an Islamist movement that seeks to create an Islamist state — is based in northeast Nigeria and may be expanding to Lagos, which is located in southwestern Nigeria. Boko Haram's operation in the northeast "will trim Nigeria's growth rate by half a percentage point this year," and if they continue to Lagos, Nigeria's economy will suffer.

Additionally, the Ebola virus spread to Lagos, with 10 reported cases as of Aug. 12.

2. Port Moresby

Country: Papua New Guinea

EIU Rank: 138

Port Moresby scored low for stability (30) and healthcare (37.5).

A recent report by the World Bank said there were high levels of crime and violence in PNG that had "remained so over more than a decade." Business owners and employees in PNG said "the indirect, longterm social impacts of crime and violence ... limit them from operating to their full potential."

Additionally, earlier this month, PNG's Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill, was accused of misconduct "over his government's purchase of shares in an oil and gas company."

1. Dhaka

Country: Bangladesh

EIU Rank: 139

Bangladesh overall had "deep and widespread" poverty, and the country is "trying to diversify its economy, with industrial development a priority," according to the BBC.

According to a World Bank report, Dhaka "ranks highly amongst the world's cities in terms of poor urban air quality." Up to 230 million cases of respiratory diseases annually could be avoided with a substantial reduction in air pollution, according to the report.